Cramer: In retail, there is virtually no stock worth buying

The entire retail sector is suffering in an unfavorable environment of shifting consumer demand, and as a result, for investors looking to bet on retail names the opportunities are few and far between, CNBC's Jim Cramer said.

"I'm searching for a period where apparel was this bad in this country," Cramer said on "Squawk on the Street" on Thursday. "What sticks out at you, whether it be Saks, whether it be Nordstrom, whether it be Macy's, Wal-Mart, whether it be Target—something happened. It's almost as if we've all decided to go to the thrift shop. Either that, or we're buying everything on Amazon."

"Apparel has stopped in this country. I've never seen this," he said. Cramer explained that many in the market are blaming a shift away from apparel to housing-related spending, which is supported by recent strength from companies like Home Depot and Lowe's.

At the back of the pack is Abercrombie & Fitch, which disappointed Wall Street estimates and showed a 10 percent drop in same-store sales in this quarter. "ANF is a disaster," Cramer said. Whereas at J.C. Penney, "it was not as bad as it could have been" for the troubled retailer.

Target, on the other hand, "is a very good company," Cramer said. "So when they miss like this it isn't just Target ... this is not one of those cases where it is just the company itself."